- Anushka Satya and Nishant Kumar In 2019, the Supreme Court judge bench of the then Chief Justice of India, Justice Ranjan Gogoi, and Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna, has observed that “It is very apparent that what should not have happened has happened and the state has to give compensation”. This statement is remarkable because a … Continue reading CHALLENGING THE LEGALITY OF REMISSION IN BILKIS BANO CASE
-Devvrat Singh and Nishita Gupta Introduction The Supreme Court recently stayed an order of the Bombay High Court discharging Professor G.N. Saibaba in an alleged Maoist links case under the UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act). The effect of the order was that professor Saibaba who happens to be wheelchair bound and suffering from 90% disability … Continue reading Interpreting Sanction for Prosecution under UAPA in the light of GN Saibaba verdict
-Saranya Ravindran Section 438 of the Code of Criminal Procedure [CrPC] empowers the Sessions Court and the High Court to grant anticipatory bail, i.e., the direction to release a person on bail in the event of an arrest on a non-bailable offense. Section 18 of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 (the Atrocities … Continue reading Restricting Anticipatory Bail under the Atrocities Act
-Ms. Lovleen Sharrma & Sakshi Komal Dubey Introduction As per the Prison Statistics India Report, 2021 the figure of prison inmates in women’s jails adds up to 3,808. The Women In Prison Report, 2018 which sought to study the condition of women prisoners highlighted that the prison population increased drastically, and had therefore created challenges … Continue reading Addressing the Right of Female Prisoners (to Bleed): Menstrual Management Behind the Bars
~By Mansi Pandey Introduction Section 102 of the Criminal Procedure Code (hereinafter referred to as ‘Cr.P.C.’ or the ‘code’), deals with the power of the police officers to seize “any property” that is either stolen or creates a suspicion of commission of the offense. Further, the police shall report the seizure to the Magistrate forthwith. It … Continue reading Evaluating the Judicial Interpretation of Section 102(3) of Cr.P.C
~By Pragun Goyal Introduction Section 313 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (“CrPC”) has a profane silhouette around it. After the prosecution has closed its evidence, the accused is given an opportunity to explain the incriminating matter in evidence against him or her. No matter how bleak or scanty the prosecution evidence is, the court has to provide an opportunity … Continue reading Preserving the silence: Different spheres of Section 313 CrPC and Article 20(3) of the Indian Constitution
~By Abhinav Sekhri On 12.08.2022, the Supreme Court in XYZ v. State of Madhya Pradesh & Ors. [Crl. Appeal No. 1184 of 2022] set aside an order of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, and directed that a First Information Report ["FIR"] ought to be registered under Section 154 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 ["Cr.P.C.'] by the local police on the … Continue reading Time for a Seven-Judge Bench Reference to resolve the FIR conundrum?
By Kartik Shrivastava Introduction On 18th April this year, the President of India gave his assent to the contentious Criminal Procedure (Identification) Act, 2022. The Act was passed in both the Houses of Parliament on 6th April by a voice vote. The Act seeks to replace the 102-year-old colonial law on collecting "measurements" of the … Continue reading Identity Hunt: The Criminal Procedure (Identification) Act Needed more debate
By Abhinav Sekhri Six year old Lalita Kumari went missing from near her house on the night of May 5, 2008. When she did not come back, her father filed a missing persons report. A week later he was told that his daughter had been abducted, and so he filed a complaint with Police Station … Continue reading Lalita Kumari, and Police Discretion at the Stage of Registering an FIR
By: Milind Malhar Sharma INTRODUCTION Public Prosecutors play important roles like representing the state and are charged with proving the guilt of the accused in the criminal justice system.. This points us towards an interesting set of questions – should public prosecutors be allowed to withdraw criminal cases from prosecution leading to potential criminals not … Continue reading TAKING BACK JUSTICE: A CRITICAL APPRAISAL OF SECTION 321 OF THE CRIMINAL PROCEDURE CODE
-By Abhijeet Shrivastava Background This post concerns Bechu Kurian Thomas, J.’s recent judgment as a part of the Kerala High Court’s (“HC”) Single Bench in District Collector v. District Legal Service Authority (22.12.2020). The decision involved a temporal question over the scope of the provisions of Section 357A of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 … Continue reading ‘Retrospective’ Victim Compensation? Evaluating The Kerala HC’s Dworkinian Judging
By AbhinavGoyal &Meghna Nimbekar The criminal law of our country has become rather static and this is attributable to the neglect of the Supreme Court of India in considering the jurisprudential questions which relate to crime and punishment. The Court is content in using its discretion by interpreting the law as it is, and does … Continue reading Evaluation of Death Penalty in Modern Penology: A case for abolition
By Shikhar Aggarwal Introduction The recent Supreme Court judgment, transferring the probe into the unnatural death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput and the surrounding circumstances, to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), is being hailed as a victory for the public sentiment attached with the aftermath of his death. On the other hand, some believe … Continue reading Has the Supreme Court set an erroneous precedent by transferring Sushant’s death probe to the CBI?
By Shivjeet Parthasarathy The deaths of George Floyd in the US, and Jayaraj and Bennix in India have resulted in significant outcry against the power wielded by the police. In light of these events, the right to have a lawyer becomes much more relevant as it is an important check on police power. The right … Continue reading Constitutional Failures of the CrPC: An Analysis of S. 41D and An Accused’s Right to Legal Counsel
By Keshab Roy Choudhury Introduction The Supreme Court of India (‘SC’), in some legal and academic circles, is regarded as ‘the world’s most powerful Supreme Court'. However, it can easily be argued that the High Courts (HC’s) have equal, if not more, power vis-à-vis the SC. First, the jurisdiction of the HC under A.226 of … Continue reading Running Roughshod Over Legislative Concerns and Entrenching the Public- Private Dichotomy- Scrutinizing the Inherent Powers of the High Court Under S.482 of the CrPC – Part I
By Shailendra Shukla and Yash More Introduction The word “appeal” is not defined in the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (“Cr.P.C”). As per the Black Law's Dictionary[i], an appeal is defined as “a complaint to a higher tribunal of an error or injustice committed by a lower tribunal, in which the error or injustice is sought … Continue reading Section 378 CrPC: Impediments to Justice faced by Appellate Courts
By Abhinav Sekhri (This is the sixth post in a multi-part series. The earlier posts can be accessed here) The two previous posts in this series charted the slow but determined emergence of Section 144, in what was the Criminal Procedure Code of 1898, as an integral part of the toolkit of repressive laws that was … Continue reading Section 144 Cr.P.C. — Part VI: Continuity and Change (1941 to 1950)
By Samarth Srivastava INTRODUCTION In today’s globalised world, Non-Resident Indians (NRIs; Indian citizens who work overseas on a visa and are actually Indian citizens) and Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs; people who live overseas and are Indians by descent) form an important part of the economic and social prosperity of many countries across the globe. … Continue reading Parental Child Abduction and the Extraordinary Application of s.188 CrPC.
By Devangana Kuthari and Ishani Mookherjee The term ‘Protest Petition’ has not been defined under any statute in India, whether the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), 1973 or the Indian Penal Code, 1860. However, it has been accepted in practice and has been a part of the criminal procedure in India, even before independence, though with … Continue reading Protest Petitions as a Tool to Check Unconvincing Closure of Cases
By Abhinav Sekhri (This is the fifth post in a multi-part series. Earlier posts can be accessed through here) The previous post in this series discussed how a growing political consciousness across British India led worried administrators to use the law as a means to suppress civil liberties. Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code … Continue reading Section 144 Cr.P.C. — Part V: Combating the Repressive Law (1921 to 1940)
By Abhinav Sekhri (This is the Fourth Post in a series on the Blog. Previous posts can be accessed here) The previous post expanded upon the officers who dealt with the powers conferred under what, by 1898, was Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code [Cr.P.C.]. The post also elaborated upon the expansion of such powers … Continue reading Section 144 Cr.P.C. — Part IV: Public Order and Political Agitation (1901 to 1920)
By Nishtha Gupta “The safety of the people is the supreme law.” -Markus Tullius, Roman statesman and lawyer The Indian state has recently faced the world’s largest lockdown wherein 1.6 billion people have been subjected to an unprecedented lockdown. This has obviously led to a certain protest in terms of people not following the lockdown … Continue reading COVID-19 – III: Is Use of Lathi by Police During Lockdown Justified?
By Yashwanth J With the onset of nationwide lockdown following the COVID-19 pandemic caused by the coronavirus, various photos and videos have surfaced on the internet and the TV news channels portraying the highhandedness by the police officials against the flouters of the impugned curfew. The Government’s Guidelines on the measures to be taken by … Continue reading COVID-19 – II: Lockdown and the Wave of Police Brutality
By Ashna D After making innumerable attempts to postpone their execution, Mukesh Singh, Pawan Gupta, Vinay Sharma and Akshay Kumar Singh, the four convicts in the Nirbhaya gang-rape case have been hanged to death on 20th March 2020. In recent years, there has been a heightened support in favour of imposing the capital punishment for … Continue reading Looking Beyond Retribution: A Plea To Abolish Capital Punishment
By Abhinav Sekhri (This is the third post in a multi-part series on the Blog on Section 144, Cr.P.C. The previous posts could be found here and here) The previous post traced a historical arc stretching from 1861 till the end of the 19th Century to show the gradual development of Section 144, Cr.P.C. It … Continue reading Section 144 Cr.P.C. – Part III: Expansive Powers, in the hands of many officers
By Milind Rajratnam and Shivang Yadav “Censorship is to art as lynching is to justice.” - Henry Louis Gates Jr. INTRODUCTION The UNHRC has passed a resolution that makes access to the internet a basic human right. Recently in the case of Faheema Shirin R.K. v. State of Kerala, the Kerala High Court has held … Continue reading Internet Shutdown under Section 144: Only Alternative?
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